THE  j.  PAUL  GETTY  MUSEUM  LIBRARY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/leightonOOunse 


HEHAKLES  WBESILING  WITH  DEATH  FOE  THE  BOUT  OE  ALCESTIS 
COLLECTION*  OE  SIH  H.  BEEUHAEB  SAMUELSOII 


CTMOJST  AND  IPHIGENJA 


MASTERS  IX  ART  PLATE  III 


P-OTOQRA*-1  3 Y BERLIN  P-OTOGR**-  C CO. 

[l33] 


LEIGHTON 
BATH  OF  PSYCHE 
TATE  GALLERY,  LOXDOX 


COLLECTION  OF 


MASTERS  IX  ART 


PLATE  V 


LEIGHTOX 


P-OTOQ*A»>.  sr  XOLTEP 

[137] 


PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  RICHARD  BL'RTOX 
NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY,  LONDON 


MASTERS  IX  ART  PLATE  XII 


* -OTOSR  a p -*  8Y  M»W!S5  Oft 

[ J4I  ] 


LEIGHTON 

LACHRTMAE 

PROPERTY  OE  THE  METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM. 


NEW  YORK 


COX-XiECTION'  OF 


1 


MASTERS  IX  ART 

CO«*YR  G“T,  1693,  BY  3ERL  H 


[ 145  3 


PLATE  IX 
P v* OT OG R A 3 - ' C CO. 


LEIGHTON 

*.  AND  THE  SF.A  OAVK  UP  THE  LEAD  WHICH  WERE  IX  IT  ” 
TATE  GALLERY,  LOXJJOX 


•I 


} 


r-r 


CORRECTION  OF  GEORGE  MCCULLOCH,  ESQ. 


PORTRAIT  OF  LOED  LEIGHTON  UFFIZI  GALLERY,  FLORENCE 

Lord  Leighton  painted  this  portrait  in  I 8 8 1 , on  the  invitation  of  the  directors  of 
the  Uffizi,  who  wished  it  for  the  room  devoted  to  portraits  of  artists  painted  by 
themselves.  It  is  considered  by  some  critics  to  be  Leighton’s  best  work  in  portraiture. 
M.  de  la  Sizeranne  writes  of  this  picture:  “In  the  Llffizi,  at  Florence,  in  the  room 
filled  with  artists’  portraits  painted  by  themselves,  may  be  seen  the  fair,  handsome, 
curly  head  of  the  President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  rising  out  of  a rich  red  mantle 
with  a gold  chain,  and  with  a bas-relief  from  the  Parthenon  for  a background. 
The  portrait  is  a symbol.  At  the  back  of  all  English  academic  painting,  as  at  the 
back  of  its  president’s  portrait,  may  be  vaguely  seen  the  horsemen  of  Phidias  passing 
by.” 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


Uortr  Hetgtrton 

BORN  18  3 0:  DIED  1896 
ENGLISH  SCHOOL 

FREDERIC  LEIGHTON  came  of  a family  of  intellect  and  culture,  which 
was,  however,  not  especially  artistic.  His  grandfather,  Sir  James  Leigh- 
ton, was  physician  to  the  Court  at  St.  Petersburg  and  received  the  honor  of 
knighthood.  His  father.  Dr.  Frederic  Leighton,  also  followed  the  profession 
of  medicine,  and  in  his  early  married  life,  in  the  hope  of  inheriting  Sir  James’s 
position,  settled  in  the  Russian  capital,  where  his  two  eldest  children  were 
born.  A partial  deafness  contracted  through  taking  cold  necessitated  his  giv- 
ing up  active  practice,  and  from  this  time  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
natural  and  mental  philosophy,  and  was  noted  for  his  keen  intellectual  abil- 
ity and  general  culture.  His  wife’s  ill-health  made  it  imperative  that  they 
should  leave  St.  Petersburg,  so  they  returned  to  England  and  settled  for  a 
time  in  Scarborough,  Yorkshire,  where  Frederic,  the  third  child,  was  born,  on 
December  3,  1830.  There  wTere  two  other  children  in  the  family,  but  only 
Frederic  and  two  sisters,  Alexandra  and  Augusta,  who  became  respectively 
Mrs.  Sutherland-Orr  and  Mrs.  Matthews,  survived  childhood.  Frederic, 
who  never  married.  wTas  a most  devoted  son  and  brother. 

When  the  lad  was  only  ten  years  old  the  family  traveled  to  Germany, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy.  In  fact,  on  account  of  his  mother’s  health  the  family 
life  seems  to  have  been  a wandering  one  for  a number  of  years,  Bath,  England, 
being  finally  determined  upon  as  a place  of  residence.  These  travels  were  a 
great  opportunity  to  the  young  Frederic,  who  took  lessons  in  drawing  at 
Rome  of  Signor  Meli,  and  filled  a number  of  sketch-books  with  drawings 
said  to  have  been  very  precocious.  In  1844  the  boy  declared  his  passion  for 
art,  and  his  father  showed  his  w'ork  to  Hiram  Powers,  who  lived  in  Italy, 
asking,  “Shall  I make  him  an  artist?’’  to  which  the  American  sculptor  re- 
plied, “Sir,  you  have  no  choice  in  the  matter;  he  is  one  already.” 

The  boy  learned  anatomy  most  thoroughly  from  his  father,  and  was  placed 
in  the  Florence  Academy  under  Bezzuoli  and  Servolini,  rather  mannered 
painters  and  not  the  best  teachers,  and  whose  influence  it  took  some  years  to 
shake  off.  In  Frankfort,  w'here  the  family  lived  for  some  years,  Frederic 
finished  his  general  education,  and  at  seventeen  went  for  a year  to  the  Stiidlet- 
sches  Institut.  He  studied  for  a short  time  in  Brussels  and  also  in  Paris 

[149] 


24 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


without  much  result,  then  went  back  to  pursue  his  art  education  under  Johann 
Eduard  Steinle,  his  much  honored  and  revered  master.  Steinle  was  one  of 
the  so-called  school  of  ‘The  Nazarenes,’  from  their  inclination  to  paint  re- 
ligious subjects,  and  who  owed  their  inspiration  to  Overbeck  and  Pfiihler. 
To  quote  from  a letter  that  Leighton  wrote  to  Mrs.  Mark  Pattison,  who,  in 
1879,  the  year  after  his  election  to  the  presidency  of  the  Royal  Academy,  was 
collecting  material  for  his  biography:  “My  desire  to  be  an  artist  dates  as  far 
back  as  my  memory,  and  was  wholly  spontaneous,  or  rather  unprompted. 
My  parents  surrounded  me  with  every  facility  to  learn  drawing,  but,  as  I 
have  told  you,  strongly  discountenanced  the  idea  of  my  being  an  artist  unless 

1 could  be  eminent  in  art.”  And  speaking  again  in  the  same  letter  of  his  art 
training:  “For  bad  by  Florentine  Academy;  for  good,  far  beyond  all  others, 
by  Steinle,  a noble-minded,  single-hearted  artist,  s’il  en  faut.  Technically  I 
learnt  (later)  much  from  Robert  Fleury,  but  being  very  receptive  and  prone 
to  admire,  I have  learnt,  and  still  do,  from  innumerable  artists,  big  and  small. 
Steinle’s  is,  however,  the  indelible  seal.  The  thoroughness  of  all  the  great  old 
masters  is  so  pervading  a quality  that  I look  upon  them  all  as  forming  an 
aristocracy.” 

He  stayed  with  Steinle  until  1853,  when  the  master,  appreciating  the  pu- 
pil’s love  and  sympathy  for  Italy,  advised  his  going  to  Rome  and  gave  him 
a letter  of  introduction  to  the  German  artist,  Cornelius.  These  years  in 
Rome  were  the  happiest,  perhaps,  of  the  artist’s  life.  There  was  a distin- 
guished English  colony  living  in  the  ‘Eternal  City’  at  this  time,  to  which  the 
young  Leighton  was  a welcome  addition.  His  greatest  friendship,  and  one 
that  was  destined  to  be  life-long,  was  with  a woman  thirty  years  older  than 
himself,  Mrs.  Adelaide  Sartoris  (nee  Kemble),  a singer  of  note  and  a woman 
of  fine  character  and  presence.  Other  friends  were  Henry  Greville,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Browning,  George  Mason,  the  painter,  Gibson,  the  sculptor,  Lord 
Lyons,  and  Thackeray,  who  on  his  return  to  England  prophesied  to  Millais, 
“Millais!  my  boy,  I have  met  in  Rome  a versatile  young  dog  called  Leighton, 
who  will  one  of  these  days  run  you  hard  for  the  presidentship!” 

During  these  winters  in  Rome,  and  his  travels  during  the  summer,  he 
sketched  and  worked  at  his  first  great  picture,  ‘Cimabue’s  Madonna  carried 
in  Procession  through  the  Streets  of  Florence,’  which  was  finally  exhibited 
at  the  Royal  Academy  in  the  spring  of  1855,  and  which  called  forth  much 
favorable  criticism  from  the  public,  the  press,  and  Ruskin.  It  was  bought 
by  the  Queen  for  eight  hundred  pounds,  much  to  his  father’s  satisfaction. 
The  young  artist’s  fame  was  thus  established.  It  is  characteristic  of  his  gen- 
erous nature  and  his  desire  throughout  life  to  help  young  artists,  that  with 
this  first  money  earned  he  bought  pictures  of  three  then  little  known  painters, 
one  of  whom  was  George  Mason,  of  later  renown  in  England. 

Leighton’s  father  now  insisted  on  his  return  to  England,  and  during  the 
next  five  years  he  had  a studio  for  a time  in  London,  for  a time  in  Paris,  mak- 
ing frequent  visits  to  Italy;  but  it  was  not  until  i860,  when  the  artist  was 
thirty  years  of  age,  that  he  definitely  settled  in  London,  taking  a studio  at 

2 Orme  Square,  Bayswater.  Here  he  remained  until  his  removal,  in  1866,  to 

[150] 


LEIGHTON 


25 


the  beautiful  house  which  was  built  for  him  after  designs  by  his  friend  the 
architect  George  Aitchison,  in  Holland  Park  Road.  The  famous  Arab  Hall 
faced  with  tiles  from  Damascus  especially  selected  by  his  friends  was  not 
added  until  about  eleven  years  later.  It  has  been  said  that  the  house  was  as 
much  a work  of  art  as  any  of  his  pictures,  but  eclectic  in  its  collection  of 
beautiful  things,  like  its  cultured  master.  After  his  death  the  house  was  ac- 
quired by  the  government  as  a national  monument  to  his  memory. 

As  we  have  seen,  Leighton's  entire  education  was  acquired  on  the  conti- 
nent, and  he  was  also  a great  traveler,  having  both  the  means  and  the  incli- 
nation to  be  one.  He  made  almost  yearly  visits  in  the  autumn  to  Italy,  which 
he  called  his  “second  home.”  In  1857  he  visited  Algiers;  in  1866,  Spain; 
the  following  year,  Austria,  Constantinople,  Athens,  and  the  Levant;  and 
the  year  following  that  he  went  up  the  Nile  with  De  Lesseps.  In  1873  he  vis- 
ited Damascus;  in  1877  he  revisited  Spain.  All  landscapes,  though  of  widely 
different  character,  appealed  to  him;  in  his  later  years  he  was  accustomed  to 
spend  August  and  September  either  in  the  rugged  mountains  of  Scotland  or 
on  the  coast  of  Ireland.  His  foreign  education  and  lus  love  of  travel  and  ap- 
preciation of  beauty  in  all  forms  account  for  his  extreme  eclecticism.  In  his 
early  years  he  was  wont  to  choose  Italian  subjects,  as  witness  his  ‘Cimabue’s 
Procession’  and  the  still  earlier  subject  painted  in  Paris  of ‘Cimabue  finding 
Giotto  in  the  Fields  of  Florence,’  as  well  as  ‘The  Death  of  Brunelleschi,’ 
‘The  Plague  at  Florence,’  ‘Paolo  and  Francesca,’  and  ‘Michael  Angelo  nurs- 
ing his  Dying  Servant.’  After  his  visits  to  Greece  he  chose  subjects  for  the 
most  part  from  Grecian  mythology  or  literature. 

Leighton  was  a constant  exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Academy.  Each  year  he 
sent  one  or  more  canvases.  Among  so  many  it  is  difficult  to  choose  the  most 
important.  Among  some  of  his  early  pictures  may  be  mentioned  ‘Golden 
Hours,’  ‘Lieder  ohne  Worte,’  ‘David,’  ‘Helen  of  Troy,’  ‘Syracusan  Bride 
leading  Wild  Beasts  in  Procession  to  the  Temple  of  Diana,’  ‘Venus  disrobing 
for  the  Bath,’  ‘Ariadne  abandoned  by  Theseus.’  In  1864  he  was  made  an 
Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  a full  Academician  five  years  later. 
For  a diploma  picture  he  painted  ‘St.  Jerome.’  In  the  foreground  kneels  the 
aged  saint  in  anguished  prayer  before  a crucifix;  in  the  background  the  back 
of  a seated  lion  silhouetted  against  a lurid  sky  has  a somewhat  bizarre  and 
fantastic  effect.  He  also  sent  in  for  exhibition  in  1869  three  pictures,  entitled 
‘Daedalus  and  Icarus,’  ‘Electra  at  the  Tomb  of  Agamemnon,’  and  ‘Helios 
and  Rhodes,’  the  last  remarkable  for  its  passionate  color. 

Besides  the  work  on  these  easel-pictures,  in  1861,  on  the  death  of  Eliza- 
beth Barrett  Browning,  he  designed  her  monument  for  the  English  cemetery 
in  Florence,  having  during  her  lifetime  once  made  an  illustration  for  her 
poem  ‘The  Great  God  Pan.’  In  1862  he  illustrated  George  Eliot’s  ‘Romola’ 
as  it  appeared  in  ‘The  Cornhill  Magazine.’  He  also  illustrated  Dalziel’s 
‘Bible’  and  Mrs.  Sartoris’s  novel  ‘A  Week  in  a French  Country  House.’  In 
i860  he  painted  in  fresco  ‘The  Vise  and  Foolish  Virgins’  for  the  village 
church  at  Lyndhurst,  and  later  received  the  commission  for  two  lunettes  for 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  South  Kensington,  as  well  as  for  some 

[151] 


26 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


figures  for  a frieze.  The  first  lunette,  ‘The  Arts  of  War,’  was  begun  in  1870 
and  finished  ten  years  later;  the  second,  ‘The  Arts  of  Peace,’  begun  in  1881, 
was  completed  in  six  years’  time.  In  the  first  he  drew  his  inspiration  from 
the  Middle  Ages,  the  Age  of  Chivalry;  in  the  latter,  from  the  classic  life  of 
Greece. 

Mrs.  Barrington,  one  of  his  recent  biographers,  says  that  during  the  ten 
years  after  he  was  made  an  Academician  he  painted  thirty-six  important 
pictures,  twenty-six  slighter  works,  and  produced  his  first  statue,  and  that 
after  his  election  as  President  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1878,  on  the  death  of 
Sir  Francis  Grant,  he  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  eighty  canvases,  two 
statues,  and  two  designs,  one  for  the  jubilee  Medal  of  1887  and  the  other  for 
the  proposed  decoration  of  the  dome  of  St.  Paul’s,  ‘And  the  Sea  gave  up  the 
Dead  which  were  in  it’  (plate  ix). 

In  considering  the  relative  importance  of  these  works  we  might  mention 
first  two  canvases  painted  in  1871,  ‘Herakles  wrestling  with  Death  for  the 
Body  of  Alcestis’  (plate  1),  and  ‘Greek  Girls  picking  up  Pebbles  by  the 
Seashore.’  ‘Summer  Moon,’  a decorative  composition  most  sumptuous  in 
color,  was  Watts’s  favorite  of  all  Leighton’s  pictures,  doubtless  because,  as 
Mrs.  Barrington  thinks,  it  was  “looser  and  more  vibrating”  in  treatment 
and  has  more  atmosphere  than  is  customary  in  his  work.  In  1876  he  painted 
the  ‘ Daphnephoria  ’ (plate  x),  a large  canvas  considered  by  some  to  be  his 
finest  work,  and  a portrait  of  Sir  Richard  Burton  (plate  v);  in  1879,  ‘Elijah 
in  the  Wilderness,’  into  which  the  artist  affirmed  that  he  put  more  of  himself 
than  into  any  other  picture.  In  1877  his  most  important  work  was  a bronze 
figure  of  an  ‘Athlete  struggling  with  a Python,’  so  graceful  in  its  attitude  and 
so  perfect  in  its  anatomy  that  many  were  led  to  believe  that  Leighton’s  prov- 
ince lay  in  sculpture  rather  than  in  painting.  A replica  of  this  statue  in  mar- 
ble was  made  for  the  Glyptothek  of  Copenhagen,  the  original  being  now  in 
the  Tate  Gallery,  as  well  as  another  bronze  sculptured  later  from  the  same 
model,  called  at  first  ‘The  Athlete  resting,’  but  which  is  generally  known 
under  the  title  of  ‘The  Sluggard.’  Leighton  also  modeled  figures  in  clay  to 
use  as  studies  of  foreshortening  for  his  work  in  oils. 

The  artist  in  his  youth  wrote  to  his  master,  Steinle:  “You  will  be  surprised, 
but  in  spite  of  my  fanatic  preference  for  color,  I promise  myself  to  be  a drafts- 
man before  I become  a colorist.”  Leigbton  was  an  accurate  and  diligent 
workman.  He  made  a number  of  cartoons  and  sketches  for  each  picture, 
studies  of  the  model  nude,  of  the  model  draped,  and  of  the  drapery  alone. 
Each  picture  went  through  seven  or  eight  stages  before  its  completion.  In- 
deed, it  has  been  said  by  those  critics  who  do  not  admire  his  style  that  the 
moment  he  took  up  the  pencil  inspiration  vanished.  Even  George  Frederick 
Watts,  his  devoted  friend  for  over  forty  years,  felt  that  Leighton  often  labored 
too  assiduously  over  his  pictures,  thereby  destroying  their  spontaneity. 

Other  canvases  of  Leighton’s  later  years  were  ‘Elisha  raising  the  Son  of 
the  Shulamite,’  ‘Phryne  at  Eleusis,’  ‘Wedded’ — standing  before  which  Rob- 
ert Browning  exclaimed,  “I  see  more  poetry  in  that  man’s  painting  than  in 
any  other.”  ‘Cymon  and  Iphigenia’  (plate  11)  he  chose  to  represent  himself 

[152] 


LEIGHTON 


27 


at  the  Exposition  in  Berlin  in  1885.  He  had  modeled  the  same  subject  in 
clay, which  Watts  extravagantly  praised  when  he  declared  “Phidias  could  not 
have  done  better.”  The  artist  presented  his  friend  with  the  group,  but  it  was 
unhappily  destroyed  in  the  attempt  to  cast  it  in  bronze. 

In  1888  Leighton  painted  the  third  of  his  large  canvases  with  many  fig- 
ures, ‘Captive  Andromache’  (plate  vi),  followed  in  later  years  by  ‘Perseus 
and  Andromeda,’  ‘Return  of  Persephone,’  in  all  of  which  is  seen  his  prefer- 
ence for  the  classic  subject.  1 be  picture  called  ‘Clytie,’  an  unusually  passion- 
ate one  for  Leighton,  remained  unfinished  at  his  death,  as  well  as  ‘Phoeni- 
cians bartering  with  Britons,’  designed  as  a decoration  for  the  walls  of  the 
Royal  Exchange.  In  1895,  the  last  year  that  he  exhibited,  ‘Lachrymae’  (plate 
vii)  and  ‘Flaming  June’  were  the  canvases  which  he  sent  in. 

As  President  of  the  Royal  Academy  Sir  Frederic  Leighton  was  most  effi- 
cient and  punctilious,  although  he  never  let  official  duties  interfere  with  the 
regular  morning  and  afternoon  hours  he  spent  at  his  easel.  He  instituted  the 
biennial  addresses  to  the  students  of  the  Academy  and  inaugurated  at  Bur- 
lington House  the  winter  exhibitions  of  Old  Masters. 

Always  delicate  in  health,  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  the  artist  suffered 
from  angina  pectoris.  He  revisited  Algiers  in  the  winter  of  1895  in  the  hope 
of  regaining  his  health.  After  having  been  knighted  in  1878,  created  a baro- 
net in  1886,  on  New  Year’s  Day,  1896,  he  was  granted  a peerage  to  be  called 
Lord  Leighton  of  Stretton,  a town  in  Shropshire,  from  which  the  family  had 
formerly  emigrated  to  Yorkshire.  This  was  the  first  time  that  such  an  honor 
had  ever  been  given  a painter;  but  the  artist  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy  it,  for, 
three  weeks  later,  he  was  taken  very  ill,  and  died  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  Jan- 
uary. His  will  left  all  to  his  sisters,  though  he  had  previously  expressed  the 
wish  that  they  should  give  ten  thousand  pounds  to  the  Academy.  Almost  his 
last  words  after  signing  his  will  were,  “Give  my  love  to  the  Academy.”  His 
body  remained  in  state  at  Burlington  House  before  the  grand  public  funeral 
took  place  at  St.  Paul’s,  on  February  the  third.  The  Archbishop  of  York, 
Chaplain  of  the  Royal  Academy,  officiated  at  the  services,  and  Lord  Leighton 
was  laid  to  rest  in  the  cathedral  beside  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Thomas  Brock 
designed  the  monument  for  his  tomb  and  also  his  bust,  which  stands  in  the 
hall  of  Leighton  House. 

In  addition  to  the  honors  already  mentioned  that  came  to  him,  he  was 
made  an  Associate  of  the  Institute  of  France  and  Commander  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  he  received  the  “Order  of  Leopold,”  and  was  made  a knight  of  the 
Prussian  Order  “Pour  le  merite.”  He  was  also  an  honorary  member  of  eight 
foreign  academies  and  had  honorary  degrees  conferred  upon  him  from  five 
universities. 


[153] 


28 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


3lrt  of  Uncjijton 

COSMO  MONKHOUSE  ‘BRITISH  CONTEMPORARY  ARTISTS* 

THE  enemy,  then,  is  this  indifference  in  the  presence  of  the  ugly;  it  is 
only  by  the  victory  over  this  apathy  that  you  can  rise  to  better  things; 
it  is  only  by  the  rooting  out  and  extermination  of  what  is  ugly  that  you  can 
bring  about  conditions  in  which  beauty  shall  be  a power  among  you.”  These 
words  are  taken  from  the  Presidential  Address  by  Lord  (then  Sir  Frederic) 
Leighton  at  the  Art  Congress  of  Liverpool  in  1888,  and  they  embody,  in  a few 
words,  the  artistic  creed  of  the  speaker.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
career  the  aim  of  his  art  was  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  pure,  unalloyed  beauty. 
He  was  not  content  to  make  a beautiful  whole  out  of  imperfect  or  unlovely 
elements,  but,  like  the  ancient  Greeks,  he  determined  that  every  item  of  his 
compositions,  to  the  very  smallest  detail,  should  be  beautiful  of  its  kind  and 
wrought  with  the  utmost  care.  If  the  millennium  is  to  be  brought  about  by 
the  “extermination  of  what  is  ugly,”  he  did  his  best  by  precept  and  practice 
to  hasten  its  advent. 

It  may  be  stated  as  the  distinction  of  Leighton  among  his  peers  that  he 
worshipped  beauty,  and  especially  beauty  of  form,  more  exclusively  than 
they.  There  is  little  or  nothing  of  the  mystic  or  the  didactic  in  his  art,  which 
exists  to  create  beautiful  images.  Often  beauty  is  their  sole  motive;  sometimes 
they  clothe  a beautiful  idea,  sometimes  they  present  a fine  dramatic  scene; 
but  in  all  cases  the  treatment  is  essentially  aesthetic,  whether  the  subject  be 
the  face  of  a woman,  or  some  tremendous  theme  like  ‘Herakles  wrestling  with 
Death’  or  ‘Rizpah  defending  the  Dead  Bodies  of  her  Children.’  No  violence 
is  sufficient  to  make  his  draperies  fall  in  ungraceful  folds;  no  passion  will  dis- 
turb his  features  to  disfigurement;  with  the  pathos  of  deformity  his  art  has  no 
concern,  and  it  has  little  toleration  even  for  strength  without  refinement.  In 
these  respects  he  followed  the  traditions  of  the  finest  artists  of  Greece;  and  in 
others  also,  for  he  went  to  nature  for  his  models,  and  his  ideal  was  no  fantastic 
offspring  of  his  own  imagination,  but  the  perfect  development  of  a normal 
body.  It  was  not  confined  to  one  type  of  beauty,  and  perhaps,  therefore,  I 
should  have  said  his  “ideals;”  for  there  have  been  few  other  artists  so  devoted 
to  beauty  in  the  abstract,  who  had  also  so  wide  a feeling  for  its  different  man- 
ifestations. If  we  could  gather  together  all  his  female  heads  we  should  find 
Greek  and  English,  Turkish  and  Italian,  French  and  Spanish,  blonde  and 
brunette,  severe  and  lively,  robust  and  delicate  — a very  gallery  of  different 
types,  but  each  beautiful  after  its  kind,  with  a beauty  of  pure  form,  independ- 
ent of  accident  or  expression.  These  heads  are  studies  from  nature,  but  they 
are  ideal  also,  for  they  are  all  molded  with  an  elegance,  draped  with  a refine- 
ment, and  colored  with  a charm  which  are  personal  to  the  artist.  . . . 

Leighton  painted  but  few  portraits,  but  among  them  are  two  at  least  which 
are  masterpieces.  One  of  these  is  Sir  Richard  Burton,  the  famous  traveler 
and  oriental  scholar,  and  the  other  of  himself,  painted  for  the  Gallery  of  the 
Uffizi.  As  a colorist  Leighton  was  original  and  effective,  and  his  palette  was 

[154] 


LEIGHTON 


29 


select  and  varied.  He  was  as  fastidious  in  the  beauty  of  his  individual  tints 
as  in  the  selection  of  his  forms.  He  had  a lovely  gamut  of  red,  plum,  crimson, 
olive,  cinnamon,  chocolate,  saffron,  orange,  amber,  pink,  and  other  nameless 
broken  tints,  and  closed  it  with  a very  fine  and  pure  purple  of  which  he  was 
very  fond.  With  this  affluent  and  luxurious  scale,  which  may  be  compared  to 
that  of  a box  of  preserved  fruits,  he  constructed  many  harmonies  grave  and 
gay,  dainty  and  luscious,  which  often  give  much  pleasure  and  are  always 
highly  ornamental;  but  the  general  effect  is  somewhat  artificial,  and  misses 
the  quietude,  the  fulness,  and  the  depth  of  the  greatest  color-poets. 

J.  COMYNS  CARR  ‘EXAMPLES  OF  CONTEMPORARY  ART’ 

THE  bronze  figure  by  Mr.  Leighton  of  an  athlete  struggling  with  a serpent 
is  to  be  regarded  as  perhaps  the  highest  achievement  in  the  Exhibition 
[at  the  Royal  Academy,  1877].  The  first  essay  in  sculpture  of  one  who  is  by 
profession  a painter,  this  figure  not  only  takes  high  rank  according  to  the  par- 
ticular laws  of  the  art  in  which  it  is  expressed,  but  it  far  excels,  in  our  judg- 
ment, any  work  in  painting  which  Mr.  Leighton  has  produced.  It  is  con- 
ceived in  a spirit  more  masculine;  it  has  an  energy  that  comes  nearer  to  the 
truth  of  life,  and  a grace  that  is  more  consistent  with  strength.  As  a painter, 
Mr.  Leighton  is  constantly  yielding  to  the  charms  of  an  effeminate  beauty; 
the  tendencies  of  his  style  serve  to  weaken  his  invention;  whereas  the  process 
of  sculpture  would  seem  to  have  inspired  him  with  a new  vigor  and  a more 
nervous  force.  The  peculiar  limitations  of  the  art  exercise  a bracing  effect 
upon  his  artistic  constitution,  and  give  to  the  result  of  his  labors  a certain 
austere  dignity  which  as  a painter  he  has  never  been  able  to  command.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  sacrifice  is  not  so  great  as  it  would  have  been  to  a great  color- 
ist. Mr.  Leighton’s  color  was  always  carefully  balanced,  highly  polished,  and 
scrupulously  smooth;  but  it  never  possessed  the  kind  of  magic  and  charm  by 
which  we  may  recognize  the  work  of  a true  colorist.  It  was  the  fruit  of  study 
and  good  taste,  but  not  of  that  direct  inspiration  which  is  able  without  any 
loss  of  harmony  to  preserve  a reminiscence  of  the  strength  and  purity  of  nat- 
ural tints.  He  has,  therefore,  lost  little  and  gained  much  by  the  exchange  of 
canvas  for  bronze.  The  exceptional  gifts  of  design  which  he  possesses,  the 
technical  knowledge  and  skill  which  he  can  command,  are  of  equal  service  to 
him  in  the  new  material,  and  they  have  enabled  him  to  produce  a work  in 
which  we  find  more  to  admire  and  less  to  criticize  than  in  any  of  his  paintings. 
It  is  true,  of  course,  that  an  artist  can  be  no  more  than  himself,  whatever  may 
be  the  means  he  employs;  and  it  is  possible  to  discover  in  this  bronze  figure 
some  traces  of  those  essential  defects  of  style  which  are  inseparable  from  his 
artistic  individuality.  The  grace  of  Mr.  Leighton’s  forms  is  always  a little 
conscious.  They  are  always  aware,  even  in  their  freest  and  most  energetic 
movements,  of  the  presence  of  their  author,  who  is  on  the  watch  to  see  that 
they  do  not  transgress  any  of  the  laws  of  art;  and  they  are,  therefore,  never 
entirely  absorbed  in  their  own  concerns. 


[15  5] 


30 


MAST  ERS  I N ART 


H.  QUILTER 


‘PREFERENCES  IN  ART’ 


/IONGST  our  other  great  painters,  there  are  only  four  who  can  be  said 


to  seriously  attempt  to  paint  the  nude  figure:  these  are,  Sir  Frederic 
Leighton,  Mr.  Edward  Burne-Jones,  Mr.  E.  J.  Poynter,  and,  occasionally, 
Mr.  Albert  Moore  and  Mr.  Alma-Tadema,  the  latter  a Belgian  by  birth.  Of 
these  artists,  Sir  Frederic  Leighton’s  method  is  probably  the  hardest  to 
characterize  in  a few  words,  if  only  because  it  combines  such  various  qual- 
ities. This  most  accomplished  artist  has  studied  in  the  chief  schools  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Germany,  and  Italy;  and  one  result  of  the  various  teaching  he 
has  undergone  has  been  to  make  him  a sort  of  artistic  Achitophel.  He  has 
been  too  much  taught  to  have  learnt  anything  worth  the  learning;  like  some 
of  the  unfortunate  youths  who  take  high  honors  at  their  university,  he  has 
more  knowledge  than  he  knows  what  to  do  with;  and  while  capable  of  paint- 
ing anything  in  any  style,  he  feels  little  inclination  to  use  his  powers  for  pur- 
poses of  expression.  The  contours  of  a woman’s  back,  the  softness  of  a wom- 
an’s limbs,  the  sweetness  of  a woman’s  eyes,  and  the  languor  of  a woman’s 
love  — these  are  nearly  all  the  subjects  that  occupy  his  pencil,  and,  as  might 
be  expected,  the  continual  pruning  away  of  human  imperfections  and  human 
emotions  to  which  he  has  subjected  his  pictures  has  resulted  in  their  having 
but  little  interest,  and  even,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  but  little  beauty. 
The  loveliness  that  “comes  from  no  secret  of  proportion,  but  from  the  secret 
of  deep  human  sympathy,”  is  alien  to  Sir  Frederic  Leighton’s  work,  and  he 
keeps,  as  far  as  his  pictures  tell  us,  no  corner  of  his  heart  for  “the  few  in  the 
forefront  of  the  great  multitude  whose  faces  we  know,  whose  hands  we  touch, 
for  whom  we  have  to  make  way  in  kindly  courtesy.”  This  want  of  sympathy 
shows  clearly  enough  in  the  artist’s  treatment  of  the  figure,  which,  with  all  its 
delicate  correctness,  has  a smoothness  and  softness  that  are  not  of  nature. 
Under  the  delicate  peach-bloom  of  his  maidens’  cheeks,  and  the  clear  brown 
skin  of  his  athletes,  there  is  felt  the  same  want  of  reality;  his  lovers  whispering 
in  the  twilight,  as  in  last  year’s  Academy  picture,  call  forth  little  emotion; 
they  are  as  unhuman  in  their  perfection  as  the  voices  of  the  earth  and  air  in 
Shelley’s  ‘Prometheus.’ 

Hands  that  have  done  no  work  and  hearts  that  have  known  no  sorrow; 
soft  robes  that  have  never  been  soiled  with  ram  or  torn  by  storm;  a blue  sky 
above  their  heads  and  a fruitful  earth  beneath  their  feet,  and  an  atmosphere 
of  the  land  where  it  seems  always  afternoon  — such  are  the  actors  and  their 
surroundings  of  Sir  Frederic  Leighton’s  later  works.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
they  have  little  appeal  for  us  who  live,  girt  by  the  beating  nf  the  steely  sea , in  an 
age  which  has  certainly  little  in  common  with  that  of  Arcady  ? 

In  fact,  Sir  Frederic  Leighton  plays  upon  the  human  body  with  as  much 
skill  and  with  as  much  indifference  as  a practised  musician,  and  one  day, 
perhaps,  he  will  be  astonished  to  learn  that 


“ There  is  much  marvelous  music  in  this  little  pipe” 
that  he  cannot  compel  to  utterance. 


[15C] 


LEIGHTON 


3 1 


R.  DELASIZERANNE  ‘ENGLISH  CONTEMPORARY  ART’ 

SIR  FREDERIC  LEIGHTON  was  not  only  the  official  representative 
of  English  painting  on  the  Continent,  he  was  virtually  the  representative 
of  Continental  painting  in  England.  There  is  no  greater,  or  less  insular,  mas- 
ter of  painting  than  he,  across  the  Channel.  President  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
decorator  of  the  National  Museum  at  Kensington,  Director  of  the  official 
schools,  speech-maker  at  the  distribution  of  their  prizes,  this  Englishman  of 
good  birth  and  great  talent  would  appear,  at  first  sight,  to  have  been  in  his 
great  works  a second  Overbeck  and  in  his  easel-pictures  an  earlier  Bouguereau. 
He  visited  all  countries  and  schools,  learned  all  languages,  reproduced  all 
styles,  and  attempted  almost  every  art.  At  an  age  when  our  future  artists  are 
filling  their  students’  manuals  with  caricatures  he  had  already  studied  at 
Rome,  at  Dresden,  at  Berlin,  at  Frankfort,  at  Florence,  running  through 
Europe  and  through  aestheticism,  before  he  had  time  and  taste  for  discrimi- 
nation and  decision.  Later,  he  visited  the  ruins  of  the  Coliseum  with  Robert 
Browning,  the  Banks  of  the  Nile  with  M.  de  Lesseps,old  German  castles  with 
Steinle,  Paris  salons  with  Decamps  and  Ary  Scheffer;  working  everywhere, 
imbibing  sunshine  at  Damascus  and  fog  at  Frankfort,  painting  dreary  seas 
in  Ireland  and  rocks  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  orange-trees  in  Andalusia 
and  olive-trees  in  Italy;  filling  his  trunks  and  his  imagination  with  all  he 
could  see  of  the  best,  the  most  beautiful,  the  purest.  When  he  returned  to 
London,  in  his  prime,  he  displayed  all  his  acquisitions.  His  sumptuous  dwell- 
ing in  Holland  Park  Road  was  the  Temple  of  Eclecticism.  ...  It  was  a 
Pantheon  with  altars  to  all  forms  of  art,  to  all  the  gods  of  aestheticism,  and 
you  looked  involuntarily  for  an  empty  altar  dedicated  to  “the  unknown 
God.’’  . . . 

In  all  his  work,  though  you  may  find  many  various  inspirations  and  many 
different  subjects,  you  will  never  find  a single  low  or  sensual  idea,  a single  ap- 
peal to  appetite,  a single  playing  with  the  brush.  Nor  will  you  find  a figure 
made  by  rule,  by  chance,  without  a studied  attitude  or  a careful  definition  of 
gesture.  Subjects  which  raise  the  mind  to  the  summits  of  life  or  of  history, 
so  that  you  cannot  recall  a nose  or  a leg  without  the  remembrance  of  some 
lofty  moral  lesson,  or  at  least  of  some  great  social  need,  are  what  Sir  Frederic 
Leighton  has  painted,  in  a more  sober  style  than  Overbeck’s,  and  a more 
manly  one  than  Bouguereau’s.  Moreover,  he  has  never  extracted  from  the 
annals  of  nations  the  agitation  and  horror  of  scenes  of  war,  as  our  great  his- 
torical painters  are  so  apt  to  do;  his  are  scenes  expressing  union,  concord,  and 
the  communion  of  minds  tending  to  the  same  goal;  the  moments  when  all 
hearts  beat  in  unison;  the  ‘Madonna  of  Cimabue  carried  in  triumph  through 
the  streets  of  Florence,’ or  ‘ The  Daphnephoria  ’ . . . 

The  grandeur  of  human  communion,  the  nobleness  of  peace,  are  the  themes 
which  have  best  and  oftenest  inspired  Sir  Frederic  Leighton.  And  he  did  not 
find  this  theme  in  France  or  elsewhere.  It  is  essentially  English.  He  did  not 
bring  it  back  from  his  many  voyages,  packed  up  with  his  Persian  enamels. 
We  were  looking  in  his  studio  just  now  for  an  altar  to  the  unknown  God. 


[157] 


32 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


This  is  the  unknown  God  who  met  the  artist  when  he  set  forth  in  his  own 
land,  and  who  has  supplanted  all  the  rest. 

RICHARD  MUTHER  ‘MODERN  PAINTING’ 

ENGLAND  is  the  country  of  the  sculptures  of  the  Parthenon,  the  country 
where  Bulwer  Lytton  wrote  his  ‘Last  Days  of  Pompeii,’  and  where  the 
most  Grecian  female  figures  in  the  world  may  be  seen  to  move.  Thus  paint- 
ers of  antique  subjects  still  play  an  important  part  in  the  pursuit  of  English 
art  — probably  the  pursuit  of  art,  rather  than  its  development;  for  they  have 
never  enriched  the  treasury  of  modern  sentiment.  Trained,  all  of  them,  in 
Paris  or  Belgium,  they  are  equipped  with  finer  taste,  and  have  acquired 
abroad  a more  solid  ability  than  James  Barry,  Haydon,  and  Hinton,  the  half- 
barbaric  English  classicists  of  the  beginning  of  the  century.  But  at  bottom 
— like  Cabanal  and  Bouguereau  — they  represent  rigid  conservatism  in  oppo- 
sition to  progress,  and  the  way  in  which  they  set  about  the  reconstruction  of 
an  august  or  domestic  antiquity  is  only  distinguished  by  an  English  nuance 
of  race  from  that  of  Couture  and  Gerome. 

Lord  Leighton,  the  late  highly  cultured  President  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
was  the  most  dignified  representative  of  this  tendency.  He  was  a classicist 
through  and  through,  in  the  balance  of  composition,  the  rhythmical  flow  of 
lines,  and  the  confession  ol  laith  that  the  highest  aim  of  art  is  the  representa- 
tion of  men  and  women  of  immaculate  build.  In  the  picture-galleries  of 
Paris,  Rome,  Dresden,  and  Berlin  he  received  his  youthful  impressions; 
his  artistic  discipline  he  received  under  Zanetti  in  Florence,  under  Wirtz 
and  Gallait  in  Brussels,  under  Steinle  in  Frankfort,  and  under  Ingres  and 
Ary  Scheffer  in  Paris.  Back  in  England  once  more,  he  translated  Couture 
into  English  as  Anselm  Feuerbach  translated  him  into  German  with  greater 
independence.  Undoubtedly  there  has  never  been  anything  upon  his  can- 
vas which  could  be  supposed  ungentlemanhke,  and  as  a nation  is  usually 
apt  to  prize  most  the  very  thing  which  has  been  denied  it,  for  which  it  has  no 
talent,  Leighton  was  soon  an  object  of  admiration  to  the  refined  world.  As 
early  as  1864  he  became  an  associate,  and  in  November,  1879,  President  of 
the  Royal  Academy.  For  sixteen  years  he  sat  like  a Jupiter  upon  his  throne 
in  London.  An  accomplished  man  of  the  world  and  a good  speaker,  a scholar 
who  spoke  all  languages  and  had  seen  all  countries,  he  possessed  every  qual- 
ity which  the  president  of  an  academy  needs  to  have;  he  had  an  exceedingly 
imposing  presence  in  his  red  gown,  and  did  the  honors  of  his  house  with  ad- 
mirable tact. 

But  one  stands  before  his  works  with  a certain  feeling  of  indifference.  There 
are  few  artists  with  so  little  temperament  as  Lord  Leighton,  few  in  the  same 
degree  wanting  in  the  magic  of  individuality.  The  purest  academical  art,  as 
the  phrase  is  understood  of  Ingres,  together  with  academical  severity  of  form, 
is  united  with  a softness  of  feeling  recalling  Hofmann  of  Dresden,  and  the  re- 
sult is  a placid  classicality  adapted  ad  usum  Dclpbim , a classicality  foregoing 
the  applause  of  artists,  but  all  the  more  in  accordance  with  the  taste  of  a re- 
fined circle  of  ladies.  His  chief  works,  ‘The  Star  of  Bethlehem,’  ‘Orpheus 

[158] 


LEIGHTON 


33 


and  Eurydice,’  ‘Jonathan’s  Token  to  David,’  ‘Electra  at  the  Tomb  of  Aga- 
memnon,’ ‘The  Daphnephoria,’  ‘Venus  disrobing  for  the  Bath,’  and  the  like, 
are  amongst  the  most  refined  although  the  most  frigid  creations  of  contem- 
porary English  art. 


Cfjc  froths  of  2.0 rtj  Hctijfjton 

DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  PLATES 

‘HERAKLES  WRESTLING  WITH  DEATH  FOR  THE  BODY  OF  ALCESTIS’  PLATE  I 

THE  large  canvas  of  Herakles,  or,  as  the  Romans  denote  him,  Hercules, 
wrestling  with  Death  for  the  body  of  the  fair  Alcestis,  was  one  of  Lord 
Leighton’s  most  important  canvases.  The  unusual  feeling  shown  in  this  picture 
is  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  his  friend  Mrs.  Sartoris  lay 
very  ill  at  about  the  time  the  picture  was  painted.  In  the  center  of  the  canvas 
under  the  lee  of  the  trunks  of  two  enormous  cypresses,  stretched  on  a bier,  lies 
the  beautiful  body  of  Alcestis,  clothed  in  flowing  white  robes  and  with  a wreath 
of  bay-leaves  crowning  her  auburn  hair,  while  at  her  feet  the  muscular, 
bronzed  figure  of  Herakles  is  engaged  in  a fierce  struggle  with  Death, — a re- 
pulsive figure,  clad  in  a thin  gray  drapery  with  greenish  flesh  and  ball-less 
eyes.  Against  the  background  of  the  deep  blue  fEgean  Sea,  beyond  which 
rise  the  purple  mountains  of  the  opposite  coast  tinged  with  sunset  hues,  an 
old  man  is  restraining  a half  nude  figure  of  a woman  frantic  with  fear  at  the 
struggle  going  on.  At  the  head  of  the  bier  are  huddled  together  a number  of 
women  clothed  in  various  shades  of  deep  red,  purple,  and  gray. 

Mr.  A.  G.  Temple  writes  of  this  picture:  “The  exalted  Greek  ideal  of  form 
never  before  found  itself  so  pictured  on  canvas.  The  verse  of  Browning  in- 
spired him  (Leighton)  to  the  ‘Orpheus  and  Eurydice;’  but  seven  years  later 
the  poet  himself  was  inspired  towards  the  production  of  that  truly  beautiful 
poem  ‘ Balaustion’s  Adventure’  by  the  masterly  painting  of  ‘Herakles  wrest- 
ling with  Death  for  the  Body  of  Alcestis.’  He  was  forty  when  he  painted  this. 

‘ There  slept  a silent  palace  in  the  sun, 

With  plains  adjacent  and  Thessalian  peace.’ 

Thus  the  poem  opens;  arriving  at  this  palace,  Herakles  hears  of  the  grief  for 
the  dead  Alcestis,  and  goes  to  her  tomb,  where  he  encounters  Death  and  com- 
pels him  to  give  back  his  prey.  This  splendid  canvas,  with  one  or  two  others 
of  its  kind,  seems  to  stand  apart  from  his  other  work,  not  only  in  the  intensity 
of  its  feeling,  but  in  its  manner  of  work:  there  is  less  of  the  deliberate  and  as- 
sured touch,  and  more  of  the  striving  to  attain;  the  work  has  a solidity,  whether 
or  no  secured  by  this  effort  to  attain  matters  not;  the  effect  arrived  at  is  that  of 
substantial  richness  in  keeping  with  the  august  dignity  of  the  theme.  If  any 
one  work  more  than  another  rooted  more  firmly  Leighton’s  reputation,  it  was 
this,  and  by  many  it  is  thought,  for  its  collective  merits,  not  to  have  been  sur- 

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34 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


passed  by  any  subsequent  production.  There  is  a spontaneity  in  its  action 
which  cannot  be  readily  pointed  to  in  any  other  example.  The  very  airs  of 
Thessaly  seem  coming  from  the  blue  fflgean  to  the  frightened  bearers  of  the 
beauteous  burden.  All  that  Leighton  had  to  go  upon  was  a passage  such  as 
this  from  Euripides:  ‘Yea,  I will  go  and  lie  in  wait  for  Death,  the  king  of 
souls  departed,  with  the  dusky  robes,  and  methinks  I shall  find  him  hard  by 
the  grave  drinking  the  sacrificial  wine.  And  if  I can  seize  him  by  this  ambush, 
springing  from  my  lair,  and  throw  my  arms  in  circle  round  him,  none  shall 
snatch  his  panting  body  from  my  grasp  till  he  give  back  the  woman  to  me.’ 
From  this  evolved  his  idea  of  the  scene;  fear,  beauty,  strength,  in  presence  of 
the  deadly  foe,  there  was  the  drama. 

“In  an  early  design  for  this  work  there  were  no  ‘women  waiters  in  a corner 
crouched,’  as  Browning  writes;  but  what  an  accession  of  strength  to  the  com- 
position, and  loveliness  in  themselves,  these  finely  expressed  forms  ’neath 
manifold  crease  of  red  and  purple  bring  into  the  work.” 

The  picture  belongs  to  Sir  Bernhard  Samuelson,  who  has  most  generously 
loaned  it  for  exhibition  on  many  occasions,  at  one  time  it  having  been  sent  as 
far  away  as  Australia.  It  was  painted  in  1871,  and  measures  four  and  a half 
feet  high  by  a little  more  than  eight  and  a half  feet  long. 

‘CYMON  AND  IPHIGENIA’  PLATE  II 

CYMON  AND  IPHIGENIA’  was  the  most  important  picture  that 
Leighton  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  of  1884.  Mr. 
Rhys  writes  of  it:  “ ‘A  more  original  effect  of  light  and  color,  used  in  the 
broad,  true,  and  ideal  treatment  of  lovely  forms,’  said  a French  critic,  ‘we 
do  not  remember  to  have  seen  at  the  Academy,  than  that  produced  by  the 
“Cymon  and  Iphigenia.”  ’ Engravings  and  other  reproductions  of  the  pic- 
ture have  made  its  design,  at  any  rate,  almost  as  familiar  now  as  Boccaccio’s 
tale  itself.  There  are  some  divergences,  however,  in  the  two  versions.  Boccac- 
cio’s tale  is  a tale  of  spring;  Sir  Frederic,  the  better  to  carry  out  his  conception 
of  the  drowsy  desuetude  of  sleep,  and  of  that  sense  of  pleasant  but  absolute 
weariness  which  one  associates  with  the  season  of  hot  days  and  short  nights, 
has  changed  the  spring  into  that  riper  summer-time  which  is  on  the  verge  of 
autumn;  and  that  hour  of  late  sunset  which  is  on  the  verge  of  night.  Under 
its  rich  glow  lies  the  sleeping  Iphigenia,  draped  in  folds  upon  folds  of  white, 
and  her  attendants;  while  Cymon,  who  is  as  unlike  the  boor  of  tradition  as 
Spenser’s  Colin  Clout  is  unlike  the  ordinary  Cumbrian  herdsman,  stands 
hard-by,  wondering,  pensively  wrapt  in  so  exquisite  a vision.  Altogether,  a 
great  presentment  of  an  immortal  idyll;  so  treated,  indeed,  that  it  becomes 
much  more  than  a mere  reading  of  Boccaccio,  and  gives  an  ideal  picture  of 
Sleep  itself, — that  Sleep  which  so  many  artists  and  poets  have  tried  at  one 
time  or  another  to  render.”  While  another  critic,  more  discriminating,  per- 
haps, calls  the  picture  “sugary”  and  “mawkish  in  sentiment.”  The  canvas 
measures  five  feet  nine  inches  by  ten  feet  nine  inches. 


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LEIGHTON 


35 


‘BATH  OF  PSYCHE’  PLATE  III 

HERE  we  see  the  figure  of  the  fair  Psyche  laying  off  her  last  diaphanous 
white  garments  as  she  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  luxurious  marble  bath. 
A strong  contrast  to  her  pearly  flesh-tints  is  given  by  the  brilliant  yellow  dra- 
pery that  she  has  already  thrown  down  and  which  dips  into  the  water.  Be- 
hind her  hangs  a purple  curtain,  the  plinths  and  capitals  of  the  marble  col- 
umns are  gilded,  while  a brazen  jar  adds  another  strong  note  to  the  color- 
scheme.  This  picture  was  an  enlargement  of  a panel  once  painted  by  Leigh- 
ton for  his  friend  Sir  Lawrence  Alma-Tadema,  at  the  latter’s  request,  for  a 
screen  he  was  forming  with  panels  painted  by  his  artist  friends.  When  given 
the  dimensions  for  the  original  Leighton  exclaimed  at  the  difficulty  of  paint- 
ing a picture  upon  a knife-blade,  and  in  order  to  get  the  desired  proportions 
caused  the  lower  part  of  Psyche’s  figure  to  be  reflected  in  the  water.  In  this 
enlargement  he  somewhat  curtailed  the  length  of  the  reflection.  Mrs.  Rus- 
sell  Barrington,  one  of  Leighton’s  latest  biographers,  feels  that  in  the  modeling 
of  this  torso  and  in  that  of  the  head  of  ‘Neruccia’  the  artist  reaches  the  zenith 
of  his  powers  as  a draftsman. 

The  picture  as  we  have  it  here  was  exhibited  first  in  1890,  and  measures 
six  feet  three  inches  by  two  feet. 

‘THE  MUSIC  LESSON’  PLATE  1 V 

NOT  indeed  the  most  elevated  in  thought,”  writes  Cosmo  Monkhouse, 
“but  perhaps  the  most  perfect  of  his  pictures  is  ‘The  Music  Lesson,’ 
in  w’hich  a lovely  little  girl  is  seated  on  her  lovely  young  mother’s  lap,  learn- 
ing to  play  the  lute.  It  is  a dream  of  the  purest  and  tenderest  affection,  a col- 
lection of  dainty  and  exquisite  things,  arranged  with  inimitable  grace,  and  ex- 
ecuted with  a skill  which  leaves  little  to  desire.” 

And  Mr.  Ernest  Rhys  w’rites  of  the  same  picture:  “To  realize  the  full 
charm  of  this  picture  one  must  see  the  original,  for  much  depends  upon  the 
beauty  of  its  coloring.  Imagine  a classical  marble  hall,  marble  floor,  marble 
walls,  in  black  and  white,  and  red  — deep  red  — marble  pillars;  and  sitting 
there,  sumptuously  attired,  but  bare-footed,  two  fair-haired  girls,  who  serve 
for  pupil  and  music-mistress.  The  elder  is  showing  the  younger  how  to  finger 
a lyre,  of  exquisite  design  and  finish,  and  the  expression  on  their  faces  is 
charmingly  true,  while  the  colors  that  they  contribute  to  the  composition  — 
the  pale  blue  of  the  child’s  dress,  the  pale  flesh-tints,  the  pale  yellow  hair,  and 
the  white  and  gold  of  the  elder  girl’s  loose  robe,  and  the  rich  auburn  of  her 
hair  — are  most  harmonious.  A bit  of  scarlet  pomegranate  blossom,  lying 
on  the  marble  ground,  gives  the  last  high  note  of  color  to  the  picture.” 

The  canvas  dates  from  1877,  and  its  dimensions  are  nearly  three  feet 
square. 

‘PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  RICHARD  BURTON’  PLATEV 

IN  addition  to  the  large  picture  of  ‘The  Daphnephoria,’  the  portrait  of  Sir 
Richard  Burton,  then  British  consul  at  Trieste,  was  also  exhibited  at  the 
Royal  Academy  Exhibition  of  1876.  This  life-size  bust  in  profile  of  the  fa- 

1161] 


36 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


mous  Orientalist  vies  with  Leighton’s  own  portrait  in  being  the  best  piece  of 
work  in  that  line  that  the  artist  ever  painted.  The  subject  must  have  inspired 
Leighton  more  than  usual,  for  it  is  painted  with  much  more  vigor  and  spon- 
taneity than  is  customary  with  him,  and  the  technique  shows  greater  breadth 
in  handling  and  less  minute  finish. 

“There  was  nothing  of  the  ideal  about  Richard  Burton,”  writes  Mr.  Edge- 
cumbe  Staley.  “He  was  a forceful  personality,  with  no  beauty  of  feature. 
Leighton  has  attempted  no  pose,  but  an  easy,  natural,  wide-awake  expression 
glances  upwards  in  profile.  The  skin  is  tanned;  the  hair  — rather  unkempt  — 
is  brown.  The  black  coat  and  dark  brown  red-spotted  tie  further  project  the 
head  and  features  by  sharp  contrast.  The  grays  and  browns  are  played  upon 
by  a sunny  light,  and  the  effect  is  rich  and  animated.” 

In  accordance  with  the  expressed  desire  of  Sir  Richard  Burton,  who  died 
in  1890,  this  portrait  was  given  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  by  his  sisters 
in  1896,  when  the  collection  had  found  a permanent  home.  It  measures 
twenty-three  and  a half  by  nineteen  and  a half  inches. 

‘CAPTIVE  ANDROMACHE’  PLATE  VI 

MR.  TEMPLE  writes  of  this  picture;  “‘Captive  Andromache’  was  a 
composition  of  formidable  difficulties,  and  may  be  counted  among  his 
greatest  achievements.  Alter  the  death  of  Hector,  Andromache  was  taken 
captive  to  Argos,  where  she  was  subjected  to  the  scornful  taunts  of  those 
among  whom  she  went  to  draw  water  at  the  Hyperion  well.  In  the  picture 
she  stands  waiting,  her  jar  at  her  feet,  while  others,  almost  as  beautiful  as 
she,  are  thronging  the  well.  More  than  twenty  figures  are  in  the  picture, 
equal  care  being  shown  in  the  portrayal  of  each,  a proud  display  of  his  power 
of  delineating  form  and  of  his  sense  of  the  dignity  of  color.  For  many  years 
he  dwelt  on  this  work.  The  city  of  Liverpool  at  one  time  entertained  its  pur- 
chase, but  it  was  ultimately  secured  by  Manchester.” 

Another  critic,  less  enthusiastic,  points  to  the  fact  that  there  are  six  dis- 
tinct groups  in  the  picture;  that  Andromache,  contrary  to  the  best  canons  of 
art,  divides  the  picture  into  two  nearly  equal  halves;  and  that  in  places  the 
color  is  discordant;  that  the  artist  has  not  seen  this  composition  of  figures 
grouped  together  thus  in  real  life,  but  has  concocted  it  in  his  studio. 

And  Richard  Muther  writes:  “Perhaps  the  ‘Captive  Andromache’  of 
1888  is  the  quintessence  of  what  he  arrived  at.  The  background  is  the  court 
of  an  ancient  palace,  where  female  slaves  are  gathered  together  fetching 
water.  In  the  center  of  the  stage,  as  the  leading  actress,  stands  Andromache, 
who  has  placed  her  pitcher  on  the  ground  before  her,  and  waits  with  dignity 
until  the  slaves  have  finished  their  work.  This  business  of  water-drawing 
has  given  Leighton  an  opportunity  for  combining  an  assemblage  of  beautiful 
poses.  The  widow  of  Hector  expresses  a queenly  sorrow  with  decorum,  while 
the  amphora-bearers  are  standing  or  walking  hither  and  thither  in  the  man- 
ner demanded  by  the  pictures  upon  Grecian  vases,  but  without  that  sureness 
of  line  which  comes  of  the  real  observation  of  life.  In  its  dignity  of  style,  in 
the  noble  composition  and  purity  of  the  lines  which  circumscribe  the  forms 

[162] 


LEIGHTON 


37 


with  so  much  distinction  and  in  so  impersonal  a manner,  the  picture  is  an  arid 
and  measured  work,  cold  as  marble  and  smooth  as  porcelain.” 

The  canvas  measures  six  feet  four  inches  by  thirteen  feet  four  inches. 

‘LACHRYMiE’  PLATE  VII 

THIS  single  statuesque  figure  in  full  length,  of  which  Leighton  painted 
many  during  his  lifetime,  under  such  titles  as  ‘Helen  of  Troy,’  ‘Electra  at 
the  Tomb  of  Agamemnon,’  ‘Nausicaa,’  and  many  others,  was,  with  ‘Flaming 
June,’  one  of  the  two  pictures  exhibited  for  the  last  time  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy, in  1895,  the  spring  before  the  artist  died.  The  picture  seems  almost  pro- 
phetic of  his  death,  as  the  female  figure  in  her  somber  blue-black  draperies 
leaning  against  a fluted  column,  supporting  a mortuary  urn  wreathed  with 
laurel,  symbolizes  ‘Tears’  and  seems  as  if  designed  for  a funeral  monument. 
Mr.  Edgecumbe  Staley  writes:  “The  time  of  day  is  evening,  with  a harsh, cop- 
pery sunset.  In  the  background  are  some  solemn-looking  cypress-trees,  from 
a very  early  study  in  water-color  done  at  Florence  in  1854.” 

This  canvas  was  purchased  for  the  Wolfe  Collection  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  in  1896.  It  measures  five  feet  two  inches  high  by  about  two  feet 
wide. 

‘GREEK  GIRLS  PLAYING  AT  BALL’  PLATE  VIII 

THIS  picture  is  one  of  four  pictures  that  the  artist  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1889.  Mr.  Edgecumbe  Staley  has  somewhat  extravagantly 
praised  this  picture,  and  the  critic  whom  he  quotes  and  with  whom  he  dis- 
agrees seems  to  have  formed  a more  just  estimate  of  the  canvas  than  he.  Mr. 
Staley  writes:  “Of  ‘Greek  Girls  playing  at  Ball’  one  is  not  sure  whether  to 
admire  most  the  landscape  and  sea  in  front  of  the  town  or  the  strikingly 
posed  and  draped  girls.  Of  course,  we  are  in  Greece  and  on  the  shores  of  one 
of  her  most  beautiful  islands  — Rhodes.  The  sea  is  sapphire  blue,  reflecting 
the  azure  sky  with  its  flecking  cloudlets,  whilst  the  brilliant  greeVi  of  laurel 
and  myrtle  offers  a splendid  contrast  to  the  dazzling  white  marble  houses  and 
housetops.  This  is  one  of  Leighton’s  best  landscapes.  The  two  girls  — one 
fair,  one  dark  — are  drawn  and  painted  with  extraordinary  freedom.  Their 
movements  are  rapid  and  strained,  in  vigor  quite  Michael  Angelesque.  In- 
deed, some  critics  said,  ‘The  postures  are  impossible  and  hideous.  . . . No 
draperies  under  any  circumstances  of  wind  or  rough  play  could  assume  such 
folds.’  This  is  a typical  example  of  the  shallow  dogmatism  that  brings  art 
criticism  into  deserved  contempt  with  painters. 

“Leighton  has  again,  as  in  ‘Daedalus  and  Icarus,’  taken  us  up  on  to  the 
housetop,  which  is  white  and  bare,  save  only  for  some  tossed-about  drapery 
and,  of  course,  a pomegranate  or  two. 

“The  contours  of  the  girls  are  clearly  indicated  under  their  thin  and  cling- 
ing  garments  — they  are  very  beautiful  in  proportion  and  development, 
whilst  the  flesh-tints  are  rich  and  clear.  There  is  something  of  Correggio 
about  them.  Their  flowing  draperies  have  caught  the  hurrying  wind.  In 
order  to  secure  the  true  effect  of  light  and  shade  in  the  drapery,  Leighton 

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38 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


arranged  cotton-wool  on  the  floor  of  his  studio  in  the  particular  form  he  de- 
sired, and  then  he  cast  the  drapery  over  the  heap  and  let  it  settle  as  it  would, 
and  painted  what  he  saw.” 

The  dimensions  of  this  canvas  are  three  feet  nine  inches  by  six  feet  four 
inches. 

‘AND  THE  SEA  GAVE  UP  THE  DEAD  WHICH  WERE  IN  IT’  PLATE  IX 

THE  cartoon  for  this  circular  panel  was  executed  many  years  before  the 
finished  picture.  It  was  the  only  one  completed  of  eight  which  were  pro- 
posed as  a decoration  in  mosaic  for  the  dome  of  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral.  The 
design  was  made  into  a finished  picture  when  Sir  Henry  Tate  asked  the  art- 
ist for  a picture  to  represent  himself  in  the  National  Gallery  of  British  Art, 
familiarly  known  as  the  Tate  Gallery.  Leighton  was  already  represented  in 
the  Chantrey  Bequest,  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  collection,  by  the  ‘Bath 
of  Psyche’ and  the  bronze  figure  entitled ‘An  Athlete  struggling  with  a Python.’ 
He  therefore  chose  a subject  of  an  entirely  different  character  in  response  to 
Sir  Henry  Tate’s  request. 

Mr.  Edward  T.  Cook,  in  his  ‘Handbook  to  the  Tate  Gallery,’  writes  that: 
“Lord  Leighton  regarded  the  present  picture  as  the  best  thing  in  its  kind 
that  he  had  ever  done,  and  as  that  by  which  he  wished  to  be  represented  to 
and  judged  by  posterity.”  Mr.  Cook,  furthermore,  calls  this  picture  “an  at- 
tempt to  realize  upon  canvas  a portion  of  the  tremendous  picture  of  the  Last 
Judgment  drawn  in  ‘The  Revelation’  (Ch.  xx): 

“ ‘And  I saw  a great  white  throne,  and  Him  that  sat  on  it,  from  Whose 
face  the  earth  and  the  heavens  fled  away;  and  there  was  found  no  place  for 
them.  And  I saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God;  and  the  books 
were  opened;  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life;  and 
the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the  books, 
according  to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it;  and 
death  and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them;  and  they  were 
pidged  every  man  according  to  their  works.’ 

“The  man  in  the  center  of  the  composition,  the  only  living  being  of  the 
group,  supports  with  his  right  arm  his  wife,  while  his  left  clasps  his  child,  a 
boy  who  clings  with  filial  affection  to  his  side.  The  three  are  being  slowly 
drawn  upwards  by  some  unseen,  mysterious,  all-compelling  force  from  the 
depths  of  an  inky  and  turbulent  sea.  The  man’s  eye  is  fixed  upon  the  heav- 
ens, which  are  strangely  troubled  and  filled  with  an  unnatural  light.  Occu- 
pied with  thoughts  of  his  earthly  career,  in  fear  tempered  with  hope,  he  gazes 
with  awe  upon  the  great  white  throne.  His  wife  still  sleeps  the  sleep  of  death; 
but  a certain  warmth  of  color  in  the  limb  of  the  half-naked  boy  indicates  his 
approaching  return  to  existence.  At  the  foot  of  this  central  group  is  a half- 
risen  corpse,  whose  arms  are  folded  across  the  breast,  and  who  is  still  clad  in 
the  garments  in  which  he  was  committed  to  the  deep.  In  the  background, 
kings  and  men  of  all  estate  — ‘the  dead,  small  and  great’ — -are  rising  to 
stand  before  God.” 

This  canvas  was  finished  in  1892,  and  measures  seven  feet  nine  inches  in 
diameter, 


[16  4] 


LE I G HTO  N 


39 


‘THE  DAPHNEPHORIA’  PLATE  X 

THE  DAPHNEPHORIA’  was  Leighton’s  second  attempt  at  depicting 
a procession,  though  the  figures,  unlike  those  in  ‘Cimabue’s  Madonna 
carried  in  Procession  through  the  Streets  of  Florence,’  are  here  keeping  time 
to  a choral  song  as  they  march.  The  latter  picture  was  the  debut  of  his  youth; 
the  original  of  our  plate  was  painted  in  1876,  twenty-one  years  later,  when 
the  artist  was  in  the  full  height  of  his  powers.  The  picture  represents  a relig- 
ious procession  which  took  place  at  Thebes  every  ninth  year  to  celebrate  the 
victory  of  the  Thebans  over  the  Hiolians  at  Arne.  It  is  headed  by  a standard- 
bearer  draped  in  reddish  purple,  carrying  a heavy  standard  hung  with  balls 
and  crowns  symbolic  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars.  He  is  followed  by  a youth- 
ful priest,  the  “ Daphnephoros,”  clad  in  a flowing  robe  of  white  and  gold  and 
bearing  the  laurel-branch,  whence  came  the  name  of  the  procession.  Next 
came  three  lads  in  red,  blue,  and  green  draperies,  bearing  pieces  of  armor  — 
the  one  in  the  center  a gilded  cuirass  with  puffings  of  pale  pink  silk.  These 
last  seem  to  be  halting,  whilst  the  leader  of  the  chorus,  a splendidly  modeled 
figure  of  a young  man  with  gold-embroidered  white  draperies,  holds  a golden 
lyre  in  his  left  hand  and  beats  time  with  his  right  for  the  band  of  chanting 
young  Theban  maidens  who  advance  carrying  laurel-branches.  The  first 
row7  is  composed  of  five  little  girls  clad  in  pale  shades  of  purple,  blue  and 
pink,  followed  by  two  rows  of  older  girls,  and  these  in  turn  by  boys  with  cym- 
bals. The  procession  is  not  wfithout  spectators;  in  the  foreground  on  the  left 
are  two  young  girls  in  pale  and  dark  blue  drawing  water,  while  seated  on  the 
wall  against  a distant  landscape  are  a mother  and  daughter. 

Mrs.  Russell  Barrington  writes  of  it:  “From  some  points  of  view  *The 
Daphnephoria  ’ is  Leighton’s  greatest  achievement.  The  difficulties  he  sur- 
mounted successfully  in  the  work  were  of  a character  with  which  few  English 
artists  could  cope  at  all.  The  size  of  the  canvas  alone  would  certainly  have 
insisted  on  ten  years’  devotion  to  it  from  most  modern  artist-workmen.  The 
extreme  breadth  of  the  arrangement  of  the  masses,  united  with  great  beauty 
of  line  and  form  in  the  detail;  the  sense  of  the  moving  of  a procession  swing- 
ing along  to  the  rhythmic  phrase  of  chanted  music;  the  brilliant  light  of  Greece, 
striking  on  the  fine  surface  of  the  marble  platform  along  which  the  procession 
is  moving  and  on  the  town  below7,  w7hich  it  has  left  behind,  contrasting  with 
the  deep  shadowed  cypress  grove  rising  as  background  to  the  figures;  — all 
this  is  more  than  masterly:  it  is  convincing.  It  is  probably  quite  unlike  what 
took  place  at  Thebes  every  ninth  year; — hut  Art  is  not  Archaeology.  The 
written  account  of  wrhat  took  place  fired  Leighton’s  imagination  to  create  a 
scene  in  which  he  treated  the  Greek  function  as  the  text;  the  wonderful  light 
and  the  fineness  of  Greek  atmosphere  as  the  tone;  the  processional  majesty 
and  grace  of  movement  as  the  action.  The  element  of  beauty  w7hich  the  rec- 
ord suggested  to  him  w7as  the  truth  of  the  scene  to  Leighton,  and  he  has  re- 
corded the  essence  of  it  in  an  extraordinarily  original  work.” 

This  canvas  wras  painted  originally  for  Mr.  Stew7art  Hodgson,  w’ho  paid 
fifteen  hundred  pounds  ($7,500)  for  it  in  1876.  It  was  resold  in  1892  to  Mr. 


1 1 6 5 1 


George  McCulloch  for  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  guineas  (about 
$18,750).  It  measures  seven  feet  five  inches  high  by  seventeen  feet  long. 


LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  WORKS  BY  LORD  LEIGHTON 


HE  important  works  exhibited  by  Leighton  in  public  galleries  number  about  two  hun- 


A dred  and  seventy.  Many  small  landscape  sketches,  painted  during  his  travels,  and  stud- 
ies for  finished  pictures  were  never  exhibited  during  his  lifetime.  These  either  remain  in 
Leighton  House  on  exhibition  to-day,  or  were  sold  at  auction  after  his  death.  Many  of 
his  large  pictures  have  passed  into  private  collections  and  become  widely  scattered,  and  in 
many  instances  the  whereabouts  are  unknown  at  the  present  time.  Therefore  it  seems  best 
first  to  give  a list  of  those  works  which  are  in  public  collections  and  secondly  a list  of  the 
most  important  works  in  private  collections,  without  giving  the  names  of  the  owners. 

A LIST  OF  THE  WORKS  OF  LORD  LEIGHTON  IN  PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS 

ENGLAND.  Birmingham,  Municipal  Art  Gallery:  A Condottiere  — Hamp- 
shire, Lyndhurst  Church:  (Fresco)  The  Wise  and  Foolish  Virgins — -Leeds, Gal- 
lery: Return  of  Persephone — Leicester,  Gallery:  Prometheus  on  Pegasus  with  the 
Gorgon’s  Head — -Liverpool,  Walker  Art  Gallery:  Elijah  in  the  Wilderness  — 
London,  Burlington  House,  Diploma  Gallery:  St.  Jerome  — London,  Leighton 
House:  Clytemnestra  watching  for  the  Return  of  Agamemnon;  Innumerable  sketches 
and  studies  for  finished  pictures  — London,  National  Portrait  Gallery:  Portrait  of 
Sir  Richard  Burton  (Plate  v)  — London,  Royal  Exchange:  (Fresco)  Phoenicians  bar- 
tering with  Britons — -London,  Tate  Gallery:  The  Bath  of  Psyche  (Plate  111);  And 
the  Sea  gave  up  the  Dead  which  were  in  it  (Plate  IX);  (Bronze  statue)  Athlete  struggling 
with  a Python;  (Bronze  statue)  The  Sluggard  — London,  Victoria  and  Albert  Mu- 
seum: (Two  lunettes  in  fresco)  Industrial  Arts  as  applied  to  War,  Industrial  Arts  as  ap- 
plied to  Peace — Manchester  Gallery:  The  Last  Watch  of  Hero,  with  a Predella, 
Leander;  Captive  Andromache  (Plate  vi)  — GERMANY.  Frankfort,  Steinle  Insti- 
tute: Othello  and  Desdemona  — ITALY.  Florence,  Uffizi-.  Portrait  of  Himself- — 
UNITED  STATES.  New  York,  Metropolitan  Museum;  Lachrynue  (Plate  vu); 
Lucia;  An  Odalisque. 

A LIST  of  THE  MORE  IMPORTANT  WORKS  OF  LORD  LEIGHTON  IN  PRIVATE 
COLLECTIONS  A R RANGED  CHRONOLOGICALLY 

PORTRAIT  of  Himself;  Cimabue  finding  Giotto  in  the  Fields  of  Florence;  Duel  be- 
tween Romeo  and  Tybalt;  Death  of  Brunelleschi;  The  Pest  in  Florence;  A Persian 
Pedlar;  Portrait  of  Miss  Laing;  Cimabue’ s Madonna  carried  in  Procession  through  the 
Streets  of  Florence;  Reconciliation  of  the  Montagues  and  Capulets;  Triumph  of  Music; 
Salome,  Daughter  of  Herodias;  The  Mermaid;  County  Paris  claims  his  Bride;  Pan; 
Nymph  with  Cupid;  Sunny  Hours:  La  Nanna;  Samson  and  Delilah;  Capri,  Sunrise;  Por- 
trait of  Mrs.  Sutherland-Orr;  Portrait  of  J.  H.  Walker;  Paolo  e Francesca;  A Dream; 
Lieder  ohne  Worte;  Capri-Paganos;  The  Star  of  Bethlehem;  The  Sisters;  The  Duet; 
Michael  Angelo  nursing  his  Dying  Servant;  Sea-echoes;  Eucharis;  Dante  in  Exile;  Orpheus 
and  Eurydice;  Golden  Hours;  Portrait  of  Miss  L.  I’Anson;  David;  Helen  of  Trov;  Por- 
trait of  Mrs.  J.  Guthrie;  Portrait  of  the  Countess  of  Carlisle;  Syracusan  Bride  leading 
Wild  Beasts  in  Procession  to  the  Temple  of  Diana;  Greek  Girls  dancing;  Venus  disrob- 
ing for  the  Bath;  Portrait  of  Mrs.  J.  H.  Walker;  Ariadne  abandoned  by  Theseus;  Por- 
trait of  J.  Martineau;  Portrait  of  Mrs.  S.  P.  Cockerell;  Daedalus  and  Icarus;  Electra  at 
the  Tomb  of  Agamemnon;  Heiios  and  Rhodes;  A Nile  Woman;  Herakles  wrestling 
with  Death  for  the  Body  of  Alcestis  (Plate  1);  Cleoboulos  instructing  his  Daughter  Cleo- 
bouline;  Greek  Girls  picking  up  Pebbles  by  the  Seashore;  Summer  Moon;  Portrait  of 
Rt.  Hon.  E.  Ryan;  Moretta;  Egyptian  Slinger;  Little  Fatima;  Antique  Juggling  Girl; 


1166] 


LEIGHTON 


41 


Interior  Grand  Mosque,  Damascus;  Portrait  of  Mrs.  H.  E.  Gordon;  The  Daphnephoria 
(Plate  x);  The  Music  Lesson  (Plate  iv);  Portrait  of  Miss  Mabel  Mills;  Portrait  of  H. 
E.  Gordon;  Nausicaa;  Winding  the  Skein;  Portrait  of  Miss  Ruth  Stewart-Hodgson; 
Neruccia;  Portrait  of  Signor  Giovanni  Costa;  Portrait  of  the  Countess  Brownlow;  The 
Light  of  the  Harem;  The  Sister’s  Kiss;  The  Nymph  of  theDargle;  Elisha  raising  the  Son 
of  the  Shulamite;  An  Idyll;  Whispers;  Bianca;  Viola;  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Stephen  Ralli; 
Portrait  of  Mrs.  A.  Sartoris;  Day-Dreams;  Phryne  at  Eleusis;  Wedded;  (Frieze)  The 
Dance;  Memories;  Portrait  of  Miss  N.  Joachim;  Cymon  and  Iphigenia  (Plate  n);  Letty; 
(Frieze)  Music;  Serenely  wandering  in  Trance  of  Sober  Thought;  Phoebe;  Portrait  of 
Mrs.  A.  Hitchins;  Portrait  of  Lady  Sibyl  Primrose;  Design  for  ceiling  for  music-room; 
Portrait  of  Amy,  Lady  Coleridge;  Portraits  of  the  Misses  Stewart-Hodgson;  Sibyl;  Invo- 
cation; Greek  Girls  playing  at  Ball  (Plate  viii);  Portrait  of  Mrs’.  F.  A.  Lucas;  Solitude; 
Tragic  Poetess;  Perseus  and  Andromeda;  Portrait  of  A.  B.  Freeman-Mitford;  The  Gar- 
den of  the  Hesperides;  A Bacchante;  At  the  Fountain;  Phryne  at  the  Bath;  Hit;  Fare- 
well; Atalanta;  Corinna  ofTanagra;  Rizpah;  The  Frigidarium;  The  Spirit  of  the  Sum- 
mit; Fatidica;  The  Bracelet;  Summer  Slumber;  Flaming  June;  Miss  Dorothy  Dene;  Can- 
dida; A Fair  Persian;  A Vestal;  Clytie. 


A LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  BOOKS  AND  MAGAZINE  ARTICLES 
DEALING  WITH  LEIGHTON 

TKINSON,  J.  B.  and  others.  English  Painters  of  the  Present  Day.  London,  1871 


— Atkinson,  J.  B.  The  Modern  German  School.  London,  1902  — Barrington, 
Mrs.  R.  The  Life,  Letters,  and  Work  of  Frederic  Leighton.  New  York,  1906  — Bar- 
rington, Mrs.  R.  Catalogue  of  Leighton  House.  London.  [Printed  privately.]  Bay- 
liss,  Sir  W.  Five  Great  Painters  of  the  Victorian  Era.  London,  1902  — Blanc,  C. 
Les  Artistes  de  mon  temps.  Paris,  1876 — Bryan,  M.  Dictionary  of  Painters  and  En- 
gravers. London,  1905  — Catalogue,  Winter  Exhibition,  Burlington  House.  Works  of 
Lord  Leighton.  London,  1897  — Chesneau,  E.  The  English  School  of  Painting.  Trans- 
lated by  L.  N.  Etherington.  London,  1885 — Cockerell,  S.  P.  Drawings  and  Studies 
ot  Lord  Leighton.  London,  1898 — Cook,  E.  T.  A Handbook  to  the  Tate  Gallery 
London,  1898  — Costa,  G.  Notes  on  Lord  Leighton.  [Printed  privately.]  Crest,  L. 
The  National  Portrait  Gallery.  New  York  — Dalziel  Bros.  Bible  Gallery.  Illustrated 
by  F.  Leighton  and  others.  London,  1880  — Dalziel  Bros.  A Record  of  Fifty  Years’ 
Work  in  Conjunction  with  Many  ot  the  Most  Distinguished  Artists  of  the  Period  1840- 
90.  London,  1901 — Dilke,  Lady  E.  F.  (formerly  Mrs.  Mark  Pattison.)  Sir  Fred- 
eric Leighton  [in  Illustrated  Biographies  of  Modern  Artists,  Published  under  the  direc- 
tion of  F.  G.  Dumas].  Paris,  1882 — Encyclopaedia  Brittanica.  Edinburgh,  1878  — 
Frith,  W.  P.  My  Autobiography  and  Reminiscences.  London,  1887 — Hamerton  , P.  G. 
Art  Essays.  New  York,  1880 — Hartley,  C.  G.  Pictures  in  the  Tate  Gallery.  New 
York,  1905  — Hodgson,  J.  E.  Fifty  Years  of  British  Art.  London,  1887  — Lang,  A. 
Sir  Frederic  Leighton.  London,  1884  — Leighton,  F.  Presidential  Address.  Liverpool 
Art  Congress.  London,  1888 — -Leighton,  F.  Address  on  Spanish  Art.  London,  1889 — - 
Leighton,  F.  Addresses  to  the  Students  of  the  Royal  Academy.  London,  1896  — Mac- 
Coll,  D.  S.  Nineteenth-Century  Art.  Glasgow,  1902  — Millais,  J.  G.  Life  and  Let- 
ters ofSirJ.  E.  Millais.  London,  1899  — Monkhouse,  C.  British  Contemporary  Artists. 
New  York,  1899 — Muther,  R.  The  History  of  Modern  Painting.  London,  1896  — 
Poynter,  Sir  E.  J . Ten  Lectures  on  Art.  London,  1879 — Poynter,  Sir  E.  J.  Deco- 
rative Art  Lectures.  London,  1882 — Poynter,  SirE.  J.  Lectures  on  Art.  London, 
1897  — Prinsep,  C.  V.  Lectures  to  Students  of  the  Royal  Academy.  London,  1902  — 
Quilter,  H.  Preferences  in  Art.  London,  1 892  — Richmond,  Sir  W.  B.  Leighton,  a 


[167] 


42 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


Lecture.  London,  1898  — Rossetti,  D.  G.  Letters  to  W.  Allingham.  London,  1897  — 
Rhys,  E.  Sir  Frederic  Leighton,  with  prefatory  essay  by  F.  G,  Stephens.  London,  1895 
— Rhys,  E.  Frederic,  Lord  Leighton.  London,  1900 — Ruskin,  J.  Notes  on  Pictures. 
London,  1855  — Ruskin,  J.  The  Art  of  England.  Orpington,  1884  — Sartoris,  Mrs. 
A.  A Week  in  a French  Country  House,  with  two  illustrations  by  F.  Leighton.  London, 
1902 — Schadow,  J.  G.  The  Sculptor’s  and  Art  Student’s  Guide.  Translated  by  J.  J. 
Wright.  London,  1880  — Sizeranne,  R.  de  la.  English  Contemporary  Art.  Translated 
by  H.  M.  Poynter.  New  York,  1898  — Staley,  E.  Lord  Leighton  of  Stretton  [in  Bell 
Series  of  Art  Monographs].  London,  1906 — -Swinburne,  A.  C.  Essays  and  Studies. 
London, 1875  — Temple,  A.  G.  Modern  English  Art.  London,  1895  — Temple,  A.  G. 
The  Art  of  Painting  in  the  Queen’s  Reign.  London,  1897  — Van  Dyke,  J.  C.  A History 
of  Painting.  New  York, '1899  — Waldstein,  C.  Art  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  Cam- 
bridge, 1903  — Williamson,  G.  C.  Frederic,  Lord  Leighton.  London,  1902  — 
WyzeWa,  T.  de.  Les  Peintres  de  Jadis  et  d’Aujour  d’hui.  Paris,  1903. 

magazine  articles 

AS  with  Whistler,  much  criticism  has  appeared  in  magazine  articles  upon  Lord  Leighton, 
^especially  in  1896,  the  year  of  his  death.  We  give  only  the  most  important  articles. 
A complete  list  can  be  made  by  consulting  the  Indices  to  Periodical  Literature  in  any 
library. 

ACADEMY,  1896:  F.  Wedmore;  Sketch  of  Lord  Frederic  Leighton  — American 
2*.  Architect,  1897:  S.  Beale;  Works  of  Lord  Leighton  at  the  Royal  Academy  Win- 
ter Exhibition — Architectural  Record,  1896:  R.  Sturgis;  Review  of  Rhys’ Sir  Fred- 
eric Leighton  — Art  Journal,  1880:  J.  B.  Atkinson;  Picture,  The  Arts  of  War  — 
Athenjeum,  1896:  Anonymous;  Studies  of  Lord  Leighton.  1896:  Anonymous;  A 
Sketch  of  Lord  Leighton.  1898:  Anonymous;  Drawings  and  Studies  of  Lord  Leighton 
in  Pencil,  Chalk,  and  Other  Material — Belgravia,  1896:  M.  Dean;  A Sketch  of  Lord 
Leighton  — Biblical  World,  1898:  J.  P.  Lennox;  Parable  of  the  Wise  and  Foolish 
Virgins,  a Painting — Chambers  Journal,  1903:  W.  W.  Fenn;  Recollections  of  Sir 
Frederic  Leighton  — Cornhill,  1897:  G.  Costa;  Notes  on  Lord  Leighton — Cosmopol- 
itan, 1 S 9 6 G.  Campbell;  Frederic,  Lord  Leighton  — Eclectic  Magazine,  i 897  : Mrs. 
R.  Barrington;  Sketches  by  Lord  Leighton — -Education,  1900:  F.  B.  Sawvel;  Dante’s 
Dream  and  Captive  Andromache  — English  Illustrated,  1896:  W.  Meynell;  Minor 
Memories  of  Lord  Frederic  Leighton  — Fortnightly,  1 897 : H.  H.  Statham;  Lord  Leigh- 
ton and  Watts:  Two  Ideals  in  Art  — Good  Words,  i 899  : W.  Bayliss;  Lord  Leighton  the 
Painter  of  the  Gods  — Harper’s  Bazaar,  1896:  A.  Hoeber;  Lord  Leighton,  Painter  of 
Fair  Women  — Lippincott’s,  1893:  V.  Butler;  Lord  Leighton- — Littell’s  Living 
Age,  1896:  S.  P.  Cockerell;  Drawings  of  Lord  Leighton- — Magazine  of  Art,  1878 
and  1879:  H.  S.  Wilson;  Sir  Frederic  Leighton.  1891:  W.  Meynell;  Many  Moods  of 
Lord  Leighton.  1891:  W.  Meynell;  House  of  Lord  Leighton  in  Holland  Park  Road 
1896:  M.  H.  Spielmann;  Sketch  of  Lord  Leighton.  1896:  J.  Ward;  Lord  Leighton  and 
His  South  Kensington  Frescoes.  1897:  A.  L.  Baldry;  Sketches  by  Lord  Leighton.  1899: 
L.  F.  Day;  Review  of  Rhys’  Frederic,  Lord  Leighton.  1899:  Mrs.  R.  Barrington;  Lord 
Leighton’s  House  and  What  It  Contains — Monthly  Illustrator,  1896:  G.  Cranmer; 
The  Passing  of  a Master — Nation,  1897:  E.  R.  Pennell;  Lord  Leighton  and  Watts  — 
National  Review,  1897:  Mrs.  R.  Barrington;  Sketches  by  Lord  Leighton  — Nine- 
teenth Century,  1896:  W.  B.  Richmond;  Lord  Leighton  and  His  Art.  1896:  S.  P. 
Cockerell;  Drawings  by  Lord  Leighton — Portfolio,  1870:  J.  B.  Atkinson;  Sir  Fred- 
eric Leighton.  1875:  P.  G.  Hamerton;  Technical  Note  on  Sir  Frederic  Leighton  — Sat- 
urday Review,  1897:  D.  S.  M.;  Lord  Leighton  and  Academicism — Scribner,  1896: 
C.  Monkhouse;  Lord  Leighton — -Sewanee,  1899:  G.  White;  Art  of  Lord  Leighton  — 
Studio,  1888:  Anonymous;  Sir  Frederic  Leighton.  1893:  Anonymous;  Lord  Leighton 
as  a Modeller  in  Clay.  1897:  Anonymous;  Drawings  and  Studies  of  Lord  Leighton.  1899: 
Anonymous;  Studies  by  Lord  Leighton. 


[168] 


M ASTE  RS  IN  ART 


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